Life in israel

'There is no normal life here': three Israelis, three years after October 7

Three people reflect on the moments, choices, and unexpected journeys that began with the trauma of October 7

|ByRACHEL FINK
People holding up portraits of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza gather at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv in October 2025. Premium
Israelis have continued to work, study, and raise families, even as reminders of three years of war remain part of the landscape of everyday life.PremiumPremium

We're just in survival mode': Israel's new normal after October 7

Israelis have learned to switch between war and ordinary life, but three years of uncertainty have left their mark

|ByCHANI KAPLAN
A partially torn poster of a hostage kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is seen at a public plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Farewell from the Report: reflecting on three years of upheaval - from the editor

On the third anniversary of October 7, Editor-in-Chief, Ruth Marks Eglash reflects on a year at The Jerusalem Report and bids readers farewell

|ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH
A hot day at the beach in Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv ranks 34th globally, highest in Middle East, in Oxford Economics’ 2026 Global Cities Index

Tel Aviv is one of the only three Middle East cities included in the top 50 of the index, which ranks the top 1,000 cities worldwide following several key areas.

|ByMILLA WOLMAN

Lisa Cain Hammerman: The miraculous art of motherhood

Lisa Cain Hammerman, 72, Brookline, Massachusetts, to Jerusalem, to Mitzpe Yericho, 1980.

AUGUST 1, 2026ByRIVKAH LAMBERT ADLER
ASHER & LISA CAIN with their miracle child.

How Israel's western Galilee is rebuilding through tourism after war

After nearly 3 years of war, small business owners, artists, and restaurateurs are rebuilding tourism in Israel’s North – one visitor at a time

JULY 13, 2026BySHANNA FULD
The rolling hills of the Western Galilee during Spring.
Premium

How 'little miracles' brought this New York family to Israel's hilltops

How one family turned their aliyah journey into a live performance

JUNE 30, 2026ByBATSHEVA SHULMAN
Chaya and Yossi Stern traded Brooklyn's city streets for Israel's hilltops, a move that now forms the heart of their live musical performance.
Premium

Beyond the Headlines: Test yourself, who Is telling you the story? - opinion

A weekly glimpse into the Israel you won’t read about in the news

JUNE 2, 2026BySIVAN RAHAV MEIR
The SQUARE TLV project by Kata Group

'Upside-Down Love': An Israeli-Palestinian memoir of marriage across borders

Israeli-American lawyer Sari Bashi recounts in her memoir a relationship shaped by restriction and distance, where love unfolds within the limits of the law

MAY 12, 2026ByPATRICIA GOLAN
Sari Bashi is an Israeli-American human rights lawyer, author, and activist specializing in international humanitarian law and Israeli policy.

Through a mother's eyes: The wartime struggle of Israelis with special needs - comment

The mental and physical wartime challenges for Israelis with special needs

APRIL 28, 2026ByHANNAH BROWN
SHEKEL participants with counselor during a siren, in a bomb shelter at the Jerusalem center.

Even in ceasefire, Israelis are still living with the war - from the editor

Israelis navigate loss, trauma, and rebuilding – revealing both resilience and hidden strain

APRIL 28, 2026ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH
Soldiers stand in front a memorial to fallen soldiers in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl Cemetery a few days ahead of Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Remembrance Day.

Behind the 'secret sauce' of Israeli resilience Americans cannot grasp - comment

As sirens sound and life resumes within hours, Israeli resilience reveals a society shaped by constant threat

APRIL 23, 2026ByERIC R. MANDEL
An Israeli emergency responder inspects the impact of an Iranian missile strike at an apartment in Ramat Gan, March.

Israel in the frame: How Local Testimony 2025 builds a public record

How an Israeli photography exhibition turns a year of war, protest, and hostage returns into a public record

JANUARY 13, 2026ByCHANI KAPLAN
Itai Ron’s image showing shadows of ultra-Orthodox men and soldiers on the wall of a house in the Palestinian village of Kifl Haris was selected as Photo of the Year by ‘Local Testimony 2025.’

Living in Israel's war two years on: Moving forward on the moral high road - comment

Looking back now, it’s hard to imagine life before October 7.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2025ByBATSHEVA SHULMAN
An Israeli soldier with a prayer shawl seen during a morning prayer near his tank near the border with Lebanon, northern Israel, October 25, 2023